3/20/09

Coconut kick. It's a term and a lifestyle for me lately. Just been loving coconut lately, and still wanting to bake with it like crazy. Orignially I wanted to try a coconut cheesecake, but the oven I have in our rental is so old and so not reliable. I have to save that recipe for when we move into our own home (yes, we hope that's coming soon too!). So instead I tried (first time) coconut cream cheese cookies. I found these little gems over at CI (cooks illustrated). I love CI. Wouldn't it be fun to spend like a weekend retreat over at the test kitchens and just bake all weekend long; creating new recipes, tweaking old ones and perfecting the brand new recipes?Cooking Notes: I made some with pecans as well, put on the top. Just thought this cookie needed a crunch to it. Keep in mind these cookies cook fast. They should not turn golden brown, only slightly light brown; they do burn fast! My changes are in parenthesis.

Adjust oven racks to upper & lower -middle positions & heat oven to 325. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread coconut evenly on baking sheet.Once oven is preheated place coconut in oven. Bake for 10-20 minutes stirring every 5minutes for even toasting. Remove from oven when light brown. Do NOT burn. Remove from oven. Allow to cool completely before adding to dough.Re-line cookie sheets with parchment paper.Whisk dry ingredients together; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand mix butter and cream cheese together with a mixer until smooth. Add sugars and beat until thoroughly combined.Beat in vanilla until combined.Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in cooled coconut.Chill dough overnight.When ready to bake cookies preheat oven to 350 degrees.Drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are set and bottoms are light brown. Do NOT overbake!Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking and place on wire rack to cool.

67 comments:

I love everything you bake because it's always rich! If only I was as adventurous and tried something different once in a while..haha (I've never added coconut in anything before!)

I think I would go crazy in the test kitchen. It would be great to test out all the variations without worrying about having to finish everything. I had to stop baking cupcakes because it was starting to get a little crazy with all the different batches..haha

OK there lady....you had me at coconut and cream cheese...2 of my hands down favorites!There this goes on the "must try soon" pile...which is about to topple over and give the dog a concussion.They look "I wanna grab one right now and eat it" good!!!!

Yeah we want a test kitchen gig. That would be more than totally fun. Ummm coconut has been in our cakes and cookies too. It's so yummy. These cookies sounds creamy and chewy and nutty and coconutty...yum. Love all the cream cheese and butter. Makes it good!

I've been wanting to make another cream cheese cookie, and I think you've just given me the recipe! I love all things coconut, as well, and I'm so glad you made these cookies (although I can't wait to see the cheesecake when you get into your own hoome)! Everything looks delish, Dawn!

Those look so good-although no one in our house will eat coconut. Hmmm, I bet they would be a huge hit at work though!

I so want to wear one of those white jackets. I thought about buying one just to wear here, and thought my hubby would just commit me. Yeah, the souffle hat-I don't have a hat face, so I'll stick with the jacket. Maybe we could form a club?

These cookies look awesome, Dawn! They remind me that I'm way behind in the cookie territory. Poor neglected kids.

We're subcribers to CI, even though it is ridiculously expensive (I know, no ads...but still). My husband would kill for a job in the test kitchen. Actually I would too, even though the winters up there are even colder than here.

Speaking of - how about this weather?!!! I've made a vow to walk on the beach every day and I'm on day 5. And I spent the whole day out cleaning out my gardens and ordering organic seeds online.

I just love to visit your blog. You make everything look so yummy...I am a faithfull follower of Nancy's Kitchen and now Nancy's Pantry. I made the Chocolate Rootbeer Cake and made some changes of my own. Instead of chocolate frosting I made a butter cream vanilla frosting. WOW!! The outcome was amazing. It tasted like a rootbeer float.

Stopping by for the first time to tell you I made the cream cheese coconut cookies and they are divine!!! They are being raved about by all that were privileged to taste them. "coconut cream pie in a cookie". Soo delicious!

Hello all! This recipe looks really nice and I'm thinking of baking it to try.Just have one question though. What type of coconut do you use in the recipe? Grated? Shredded? From a packet? Fresh from the market? Or do you buy fresh coconuts and prepare them yourselves?Thanks in advance! =)

Ronnie (no other way to contact you)I used the sweetened coconut from the bag, that's what Cooks Illustrated said to use. But I would imagine using dried coconut might work too? Dried has that intense coconut flavor.Does that answer your question I hope?

Ohh okk. The supermarkets near where I live only has "desiccated coconut" and I'm not too sure if it's usable. Probably going to try that one since it's one of the only coconut I have. The other alternative I have is getting freshly grated coconut from the market. I'm worried that if I try to roast the dried coconut it'll just get burnt.Do you know if the one you're using is grated or shredded? Wonder if there's a difference. Guess it doesn't quite matter whether it's sweetened or not right?Thanks for your reply =) Sorry again that I've got so many questions haha.

I loved this recipe and turned it into thumbprint cookies by adding chocolate to the center. I'm a bit of a chocoholic, what can I say :) Check it out and let me know what you think: www.yummymummyfood.blogspot.com

Hi there. I've been reading your blog for a little while now, but I think this is the first recipe I've gotten around to making (trust me - others are bookmarked!). I just wanted to say that these came out really good! I cut the butter back to one stick and browned it a little while melting it on the stove. I also added about a cup of mini chocolate chips because I was a little light on the coconut. I was surprised at how moist and chewy these are in the centers even though the outsides are so firm looking! I don't think I would pinpoint that these have cream cheese in them if I didn't already know, but I'd definitely notice that there was something different about the texture. I think I may have to experiment with cream cheese some more now... how do you think it would work in a peanut butter cookie?

This was the best cookie I've ever had in my life, thank you very much! I did add macadamia nuts because I was trying to come close to my favorite Mrs. Fields Cookie (a macadamia macaroon), however this one went far beyond anything Mrs. Fields ever did :) Calorie breakdown on a per cookie basis (I got 30 out my batch) wasn't too bad either so I don't feel as bad as I did when I was scarfing them :)

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com